Part of the influence of the Birch Society in those days was due to the support and financing
afforded by the Hunt dynasty of Dallas. In particular, the fabulously wealthy oilman H.L. Hunt, oneof the richest men in the world, was an avid sponsor of rightwing propaganda which he put out
under the name of LIFE LINE. On at least one occasion Hunt called Bush to Dallas for a meeting
during one of the latter's Texas political campaigns. "There's something I'd like to give you," Hunt
told Bush. Bush appeared with remarkable alacrity, and Hunt engaged him in a long conversation
about many things, but mentioned neither politics nor money. Finally, as Bush was getting ready toleave, Hunt handed him a thick brown envelope. Bush eagerly opened the envelope in the firm
expectation that it would contain a large sum in cash. What he found instead was a thick wad of
LIFE LINE literature for his ideological reformation. [fn 8]
It was in this context that George Bush, mediocre oilman, fortified by his Wall Street and Skull andBones connections, but with almost no visible qualifications, and scarcely known in Texas outside
of Odessa, Midland, and Houston, decided that he had attained senatorial caliber. In the Roman
Empire, membership in the Senate was an hereditary attribute of patrician family rank. Prescott
Bush had left the Senate in early January of 1963. Before the year was out, George Bush would
make his claim. As Senator Yarborough ltermerity. ater commented, it would turn out to be an act of
During the spring of 1963 Bush set about assembling an institutional base for his campaign. The
chosen vehicle would be the Republican chairmanship of Harris County, the area around Houston, a
bulwark of the Texas GOP. Bush had been participating in the Harris County organization since1960.
One Sunday morning Bush invited some county Republican activists to his home on Briar Drive.
Present were Roy Goodearle, a young independent oil man who, before Barbara Bush appropriated
it, was given the nickname of "the Silver Fox" in the Washington scene. Also present were JackSteel, Tom and Nancy Thawley, and some others.
Goodearle, presumably acting as the lawyer for the Bush faction, addressed the meeting on the
dangers posed by the sectarians of the John Birch Society to the prospects of the GOP in Houston
and elsewhere. Over lunch prepared by Bathe Harris County organization: a Birchite faction underbara Bush, Goodearle outlined the tactical situation inr the leadership of state senator Walter
Mengdon, although still a minority, was emerging as a powerful inner-party opposition against the
liberals and moderates. In the last vote for GOP county leader, the Birch candidate had been
narrowly defeated. Now, after three years in office, the more moderate county chairman, James A.
Bertron, would announce on February 8, 1963 tHarris County Republican Executive Committee. His resignation, he would state, was "necessitatedhat he could no longer serve as chairman of the (^)
by neglect of my personal business due to my political activities." [fn 9] This was doubtless very
convenient in the light of what Bush had been planning.
Bertron was quitting to move to Florida. In 1961, Befundraising gathering in Washington DC, when he was accosted by nonertron had been attending a Republican other than Senator (^)
Prescott Bush. Bush took Bertron aside and demanded: "Jimmy, when are you going to get George
involved?" "Senator, I'm trying," Betron replied, evidently with some vexation. "We're all trying."
[fn 10] In 1961 or at any other time it is doubtful that George Bush could have found his way to the
men's room without the help of a paid informant sent by Senator Prescott Bush.
Goodearle went on to tell the assembled Republicans that unless a "strong candidate" now entered
the race, a Bircher was likely to win the post of county chairman. But in order to defeat the well-
organized and zealous Birchers, said Goodearle, an anti-Bircher would have to undertake a grueling
campaign, touring the county and making speeches to the Republican faithful every night for